Before You Opt for a Knee or Shoulder Replacement, Consider Stem Cell Therapy

It’s a familiar question for people who own homes, cars, and other pieces of expensive technology: do I repair whatever is going
wrong, or do I replace it? This is usually a decision that requires a careful cost/benefit analysis, weighing the pros and cons of each choice. Frankly, most people don’t look forward to it.

But imagine if you didn’t have the luxury of making that choice. Imagine if there was no way to fix what was wrong, so you simply
had to replace the entire troublesome system – no matter how costly or inconvenient it might be.

For many patients with knee, shoulder, or hip injuries, this was exactly their dilemma. They had already failed to respond to
conventional treatment. Their doctors had told them now that their only option left was a joint replacement, major surgery that would require weeks or months of painful rehabilitation.

Luckily, that was then, and this is now. Patients who are candidates for knee, shoulder, or hip replacement have another option: stem cell therapy.

Why should patients consider stem cell therapy first?

Stem cell therapy uses stem cells from your own body to directly heal an injury. Our doctors will remove adult stem cells from your bone marrow or belly fat and inject them directly at the site of your original injury, usually mixing the stem cells with PRP or PPP. Once there, the stem cells will turn into whatever type of cell is needed to heal the injury. You get the same form and function you had before the injury, and you get to enjoy a number of other advantages. Read more about them below:

Stem cell treatment doesn’t require you to take as much time off from work or school. You might need to take a few hours or a day here and there for medical appointments or physical therapy, but this is nothing compared to a days-long hospital stay or weeks of rehabilitation.There are none of the risks of major surgery, nor is there a risk of rejection. With major surgery come the risks of infection, adverse reactions to anesthesia, and more. Even if everything goes as it should, your body might still have an adverse reaction to the implant itself, especially if you have a metal allergy. While stem cell therapy isn’t risk free (no medical treatment is), the risks are very low.

Joint replacements don’t last forever. Typically, knee, hip, and shoulder replacements last about 20 years. For some adults, this is all they need – but if you’re relatively young, the last thing you want to hear is that you might have to do this all over again in 20 years. On the other hand, the healing resulting from stem cell therapy can last as long as you do.

You won’t need to take opioid medications. It’s hard to turn on the news these days without hearing more about the opioid crisis affecting thousands of Americans. Many patients are first prescribed opioid medications after surgery, and addiction develops from there. Stem cell therapy doesn’t require patients to take any opioid medications, which is great news for patients who have a family history of addiction.

You can get cost and price information upfront.This is a bit counterintuitive, so bear with us. It’s true that stem cell therapy usually isn’t covered by health insurance policies, while joint replacement surgeries generally are. But as anyone who has dealt with a health insurance company knows, just because you’re covered doesn’t mean everything is covered. Far too many patients find themselves surprised by enormous bills from the hospital or rehabilitation facility, only to find out that their insurance won’t cover the charges.

On the other hand, because stem cell therapy doesn’t go through your insurance company, doctors can tell you the costs upfront. This allows you to determine if you can afford the treatment and plan to pay for it before you agree to anything, rather than being surprised by bills long after the fact.

The bottom line is this: there’s no harm in exploring all of your options.

For some patients, a joint replacement surgery truly is their only option to dealing with the pain and restoring normal feel and function. But before you decide that you’re one of those patients, it’s worth taking the time to learn more about the other treatments out there. Surgery is usually considered the last available treatment for a reason.

We at National Stem Cell Clinic invite you to learn more about all of our treatment options, not just stem cell therapy, but also prolotherapy, neuro-prolotherapy, PRP and PPP treatment, and more. We may have a solution for your pain that won’t require you to take the risks of surgery and the time of rehabilitation. If it turns out that you’re not a candidate for our treatments, at least you’ll know you tried all your options. Give us a call today to schedule a consultation.